

THE HAWAIIAN LEHUA 



415 





the use of lehua are, first, it can be obtained only in rela- 

 tively narrow strips ; and second, it requires very careful 

 drying in order to prevent warping and checking, to 

 which it is very susceptible. In laying ohi'a floors great 

 care is exercised in fastening the boards securely in place, 

 otherwise they warp and check. The natives used the 

 wood for a great variety of purposes, fuel ; idols ; 

 framework of temples and houses ; enclosures ; spears, 

 clubs and house- 

 hold tools; surf- 

 boards ; the 

 poles to unite 

 the double ca- 

 noes ; and rare- 

 ly for the body 

 of the canoe it- 

 self. The trunk 

 was seldom 

 large enough 

 for the latter 

 use. The wood 

 is an excellent 

 firewood, as 

 every Hawai- 

 ian mountain- 

 eer knows ; it 

 will burn even 

 though partial- 

 ly wet, and pro- 

 duces a glowing 

 bed of firm 

 bright embers, 

 like those of 

 hickory or oak. 

 The roots of 

 the lehua may 

 be grouped un- 

 der two classes, 

 the aerial roots, 

 and the true 

 soil roots. The 

 aerial roots are 

 commonly de- 

 veloped by the 

 lehua trees 

 which grow in 

 a sufficiently 

 moist atmos- 

 phere. They 

 are much more 

 abundant on the uplands than on the lowlands, and in 

 the dense forest than in the open. These aerial roots 

 vary in size from fine reddish hair-like filaments, a few 

 inches in length, to large bushy masses two feet in diame- 

 ter and five to twenty-five feet tall. The aerial roots are 

 emitted from the larger branches, as well as from the trunk 

 itself. Although chiefly confined to the under surfaces 

 of the branches, they often arise on the upper surfaces, 

 and grow around the branch in order to point soilward. 



THE BANYAN LIKE PROP ROOTS OF THE OHIA 



Typical Ohia-Lehua with roots high above the ground. The Ohia germinates in the moist wooly trunks 

 of tree ferns and, as it develops, sends its roots down along the fern trunks into the ground. As the tree 

 grows larger the fern is lost in the stilt-like roots of the Ohia, finally dying and dropping away. 



The Hawaiians call the aerial root a'a lewa-lewa. In 

 rugged mountainous regions the roots often aid the 

 traveler by furnishing him with a sort of ladder. One 

 of the ancient songs, already quoted, begins : 



"Perilous, steep is the climb to Hanalei woods ; 

 To walk canny-footed over its bogs; 

 To balance oneself on its ledges, 

 And toil up ladder of hanging roots." 



Along the steep 

 valley slopes 

 and ridges of 

 Kauai, Oahu, 

 East Molokai, 

 and West Maui 

 where the smal- 

 ler I ehuas 

 abound, one of- 

 ten finds trees 

 with numerous 

 banyan- like 

 prop-roots rad- 

 iating from the 

 trunk and low- 

 er branches. 

 These roots are 

 usually two to 

 six inches in 

 diameter. 



On the island 

 of Hawaii the 

 lehua is com- 

 monly associat- 

 ed with the tree 

 ferns. As Rock 

 states : 



". . . the 

 seeds of the 

 Ohia trees fall 

 on the moist 

 woolly trunks 

 of the tree 

 ferns ; there 

 they germinate. 

 At first the 

 young tree 

 finds enough 

 nourishment in 

 the humus, dead 

 leaves, etc, 

 which collect in 

 the axils of dead fern leaves all along the tall fern trunks, 

 but finally it sends its roots down along the fern 

 trunks into the ground. As the tree grows larger 

 and taller, the fern becomes enclosed between the stilt- 

 like roots of the Ohia tree, until finally the fern dies and 

 decays, leaving the stilt roots standing some 15 to 20 

 feet above the ground, after which the real trunk of 

 the tree commences. Such stilt-like Ohia trees are very 

 common in the Hawaiian forests, but mainly on Hawaii." 



